Southampton vs Manchester United
Result: 0-1
Scorers: SOU – None.
MUN – Fernandes 55’ (A. Dalot).
MOTM: Bruno Fernandes (MUN)
Line-ups:
Southampton: Bazunu, Walker-Peters, Bella-Kotchap, Salisu, Djenepo (Perraud 89’), Ward-Prowse, Lavia, A.Armstrong (Mara 77’), Aribo (Lyanco 89’), Elyounoussi (S.Armstrong 63’), Adams.
Manchester United: De Gea, Dalot, Varane, Martínez, Malacia, McTominay, Eriksen (Fred 90+2’), Elanga (Casemiro 80’), Fernandes, Sancho (Ronaldo 68’), Rashford.
Manchester United’s second half goal was enough to give them the three points at Saint Mary’s. After a lethargic first half for United, a goal from Fernandes following a Dalot cross in the 55th minute gave United the lead. The same back four from last week did exceptionally well to keep Southampton at bay. It was a vital win for United to end an awful set of away results, seven consecutive defeats in the Premier League. This was the first clean sheet away from home since Norwich City last December.
Both central defenders for United continued their excellent form at the back. It was at one point where Raphael Varane (£4.8m) was United’s fourth-choice centre back in pre-season, however recent games have shown how important the former Real Madrid defender is to this side. Lisandro Martínez (£4.4m) also put in another good performance with both defenders forming a solid partnership at the back.
Diogo Dalot (£4.4m) put in a very good performance, not just defensively but also offensively, he got the assist to put United into the lead and was by far United’s best attacking outlet in the game. He was putting in two or three crosses in the first half alone and his energy was fantastic. Of course, he as vulnerabilities but he is improving each week and a player that is developing under the new manager.
Bruno Fernandes (£9.8m) was better, got himself the goal, but not many chances created especially with the front three very lethargic and uninspiring.
Southampton put in a good performance with plenty of chances but United made it difficult for them to get those clinical chances. They were unlucky not to get something out of the game with also the Saints’ getting a penalty shout however Scott McTominay’s (£4.9m) arms were in close proximity, so nothing given which was ultimately the correct decision.
Che Adams (£6.4) was the most dangerous player with plenty of chances, five shots in the box total.
Adam Armstrong (£5.5) also put in a good performance over on the wing and created two chances.
Other Southampton players that stood out were the summer arrivals; Keeper Gavin Bazunu (£4.5m) looking secure, defender Armel Bella-Kotchap (£4.5m) making several crucial interceptions from United’s attacks and excellent forward runs to accompany it with 18-year-old Roméo Lavia (£4.5m) looking an incredibly talented midfielder.
Brentford vs Everton
Result: 1-1
Scorers: BRE – Janelt 84’ (A. Lewis-Potter).
EVE – Gordon 24’ (A. Coady).
MOTM: Anthony Gordon (EVE)
Line-ups:
Brentford: Raya, Hickey, Zanka, Mee, Henry, Dasilva (Sørensen 90+2’), Nørgaard (Janelt 69’), Jensen, Mbuemo (Damsgaard 78’), Wissa (Lewis-Potter 68’), Toney.
Everton: Pickford, Holgate (Keane 68’), Coady, Tarkowski, Patterson, Onana (Davies 78’), Iwobi, Mykolenko (Vinagre 86’), Gordon, Gray, McNeil (Rondón 86’).
A tight affair with plenty of chances for both sides with Brentford striking late to deny Everton picking up their first win of the campaign. It was Conor Coady’s (£4.9m) lobbed pass into Gordon that provided the breakthrough for Everton in the first half and rarely threatening from that moment onwards. After plenty of chances and Brentford’s trio Jensen, Toney and Nørgaard all hitting the woodwork it looked like it wasn’t going to go their way however the chance came in the 84th minute with Janelt’s close-range effort giving the Bees a well-earned draw.
Brentford with 20 total shots in the game and was surprising not to win from those chances. They deservedly got something out of the game but realistically deserved more.
Ivan Toney (£7.2m) looked dangerous central with one of his three shots in the box hitting the post and creating a good chance for Mbuemo.
Bryan Mbuemo (£6.0m) had plenty of chances, with three shots in the box and creating a chance himself.
Both Mathias Jensen (£5.1m) and Christian Nørgaard (£5.5m) unlucky not to score following their shots hitting the woodwork but Vitaly Janelt (£5.5m) getting the deserved equaliser.
Anthony Gordon (£5.5m) by far the best of Everton’s assets, getting the goal and showcasing why Everton should be more determined to keep him this season, they’ll have to do everything they can to keep hold of him especially with Everton playing defensively for most of the game.
Brighton and Hove Albion vs Leeds United
Result: 1-0
Scorers: BHA – Groß 66’ (A. Trossard).
LEE – None.
MOTM: Pascal Groß (BHA)
Line-ups:
Brighton and Hove Albion: Sánchez, Veltman (Lamptey 70’), Webster, Dunk, March (Mwepu 70’), Mac Allister, Caicedo, Estupiñán (Mitoma 79’), Groß, Trossard (Colwill 79’), Welbeck (van Hecke 88’).
Leeds United: Meslier, Kristensen, Koch, Llorente, Struijk, Adams, Roca (Klich 59’), James (Sinisterra 59’), Aaronson (Gelhardt 82’), Harrison (Forshaw 74’), Rodrigo.
Brighton continue their sparkling start to the Premier League season with a win over Leeds United. An even game with Brighton just having the edge to get the winning goal, with Groß having an integral part in the side. In a game that appeared to be going Brighton’s way, they squandered plenty of opportunities, but Groß kept his calm, giving his side the edge. Leeds were second best for the majority of the game but chances from Luis Sinisterra (£6.5m) and Diego Llorente (£4.5m) put Leeds inches away from an unlikely equaliser.
Pascal Groß (£5.8m) was at the heart of everything Brighton did. His first-time passing was quality, able to get forward more and become very clinical in front of goal and awarded the goal for his efforts. With Groß on some of the set pieces and creating also two big chances, he is proving to be a very valuable FPL asset.
Solly March (£5.0m) also had a good performance making a lot of forward runs and having three shots in the box while also creating a chance. With Brighton having a good run of fixtures, he could be a good budget pick for FPL managers looking for a Brighton asset for their teams.
Leandro Trossard (£6.5m) was dangerous when Brighton were attacking, having two shots in the box and creating two chances. He also got the assist for Groß to send Brighton in the lead.
Not many chances for Leeds but Rodrigo Moreno (£6.4m) looked the most dangerous with three shots in the box.
Chelsea vs Leicester City
Result: 2-1
Scorers: CHE – Sterling 47’ (A. Cucurella) 63’ (A. James).
LEI – Barnes 66’ (A. Vardy).
MOTM: Raheem Sterling (CHE)
Line-ups:
Chelsea: Mendy, James, Chalobah, Silva, Cucurella (Chilwell 90+2’), Loftus-Cheek, Jorginho (Kovacic 75’), Gallagher, Mount (Azpilicueta 45’), Havertz, Sterling (Pulisic 75’).
Leicester City: Ward, Castagne, Amartey, Evans, Justin, Soumaré (Iheanacho 55’), Praet (Pérez 55’), Tielemans (Ndidi 89’), Dewsbury-Hall, Barnes, Vardy.
Chelsea survive a Leicester fightback to win 2-1 despite playing over an hour with 10 men. Both teams were looking to bounce back after defeats last week with Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel watching the game from the stands due to his touchline ban from the draw against Tottenham Hotspur. The game was not made easy for Chelsea with a red card shown to Conor Gallagher (£5.7m) in the 28th minute for halting two counterattacks. Sterling was able to score his first and second Chelsea goal after his summer move from Manchester City but Barnes able to quickly respond for the Foxes. Chelsea were able to hold on to secure all three points.
It was a great win for Chelsea, with both the composure and quality of their side able to stand up to the test following the dismissal of Gallagher to get the win, both Sterling and James with excellent performances.
Chelsea struggled in attack with a total of three shots on target from five shots in the box. Raheem Sterling (£9.9m) was fantastic today, the only dangerous Chelsea asset by scoring a brace and rewarded FPL owners with 15 points.
Reece James (£6.1m) put in another excellent performance getting the assist for Sterling’s second goal, creating two chances and hitting the outside of the post with an effort.
Jamie Vardy (£9.4m) and Harvey Barnes (£6.9m) linked up well to get Leicester back in the game but Vardy did make some poor decisions as he missed three big chances at goal.
Among Leicester’s many missed opportunities during the game was a Barnes goal in the first half that was disallowed for what appeared to be a soft foul on Mendy. Manager Brendan Rodgers believed his side had “no doubt to have taken at least a point”.
Liverpool vs AFC Bournemouth
Result: 9-0
Scorers: LIV – Díaz 3’ (A. Firmino) 85’ (A. Tsimikas), Elliott 6’ (A. Firmino), Alexander-Arnold 28’ (A. Firmino), Firmino 31’ 62’, van Dijk 45’ (A. Robertson), Mepham 46’ (OG), Carvalho 80’ (A. Tsimikas).
BOU – None.
MOTM: Roberto Firmino (LIV)
Line-ups:
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold (Clark 83’), Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson (Tsimikas 69’), Elliott (Carvalho 45’), Fabinho, Henderson (Bajcetic 70’), Salah, Díaz, Firmino (Milner 69’).
AFC Bournemouth: Travers, Smith (Solanke 45’), Mepham (Bevan 82’), Senesi, Zemura, Cook (Pearson 77’ (Marcondes 82’)), Lerma, Anthony, Christie (Billing 45’), Tavernier, Moore.
Record equalling Reds put nine goals past newly promoted Bournemouth at Anfield. After a shaky set of results, two draws and a defeat to Manchester United in Gameweek 3, with manager Jürgen Klopp describing the beginning of the season as a “false start”, they responded in spectacular fashion. They join Manchester United (1995 vs Ipswich Town, 2021 vs Southampton) and Leicester City (2019 vs Southampton) with the biggest victory in Premier League history.
Liverpool got the ball rolling with two goals inside the first five minutes, Díaz heading the ball home for the opener and Harvey Elliott (£5.0m) scoring his first Premier League goal with a spectacular curling effort. Full-back Alexander-Arnold put away his thumping long-range shot to make it three inside half an hour with all three goals assisted by Firmino. Firmino went from provider to scorer, as he netted home the fourth goal, while Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) headed the fifth goal from a corner to finish an explosive first half. It got worse for Bournemouth within the first minute of the second half when Chris Mepham (£4.5m) diverted a crossed ball into the back of his own net and not long after Firmino scored his second goal following a fortunate deflection. Both substitutes, Fábio Carvalho (£5.4m) and Konstantinos Tsimikas (£4.5m), combined to get Liverpool’s eighth and Díaz scoring another header to round off a historic win.
Roberto Firmino (£8.0m) made a huge impact in the game, with many wondering about his future with the arrival of Darwin Núñez (£8.9m) and Diogo Jota (£8.9m) that can also play in that forward role however, he started today and was fantastic. He can drop deep to link the play well, knowing where to find space and secured three goals and providing 2 assists. The performance will give him the confidence to continue this fine form in front of goal.
Mohammed Salah (£13.0m) shocked FPL owners with no contributions. It was just one of those days for him, but it was not like he didn’t get any chances and, on another day, could have easily scored a brace. He missed two big chances, with four shots in the box and creating two chances.
Luis Díaz (£8.1m) had only two shots in the box, both headers and scoring from both chances. He awarded FPL managers with 14 points and proving to be popular with 408,000 managers bringing the Columbian in for Gameweek 5.
It was a rough game for the 400,000 managers selling Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m). With a goal and an assist, and earning 17 points, FPL managers, including myself will be kicking themselves for transferring out a defender that has been the best for four consistent years and ahead of the easiest fixture of the season.
As for Bournemouth, they were humiliated but it will be more important than ever to stick together, learn from the mistakes and move on. It was always going to be a difficult game, playing against an elite side but with the harder fixtures out of the way, it will be a good time for Scott Parker’s side to bounce back.
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace
Result: 4-2
Scorers: MCI – Silva 53’ (A. Rodri), Haaland 62’ (A. Foden) 70’ (A. Stones) 81’ (A. Gündogan).
CRY – Stones 4’ (OG), Andersen 21’ (A. Eze).
MOTM: Erling Haaland (MCI)
Line-ups:
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo (Gündogan 61’), De Bruyne (Palmer 89’), Rodri, Silva, Mahrez (Álvarez 61’), Foden, Haaland (Gómez 84’).
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Clyne (Olise 74’), Ward, Andersen, Guéhi, Mitchell (Richards 57’), Ayew (Mateta 74’), Doucouré, Schlupp, Eze, Édouard (Hughes 67’).
A rampant second half and a 19-minute Haaland hat-trick inspired Manchester City’s comeback to beat Crystal Palace, coming from 2-0 down at half-time. The Eagles took the lead within three minutes gifted from a John Stones (£5.4m) own goal and a Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) header following a corner in the 20th minute – City ended the first half without a shot on target. A mesmerising second half display from City began in the 53rd minute, whereby Rodrigo Hernandez’ (£5.9m) pass found Silva who drove across the top of the area before slotting a low shot past Vicente Guaita (£4.5m). Nine mintues later Haaland scored the first of his three goals, with an exquisite pass by Phil Foden (£8.0m) to find Haaland who nodded the ball home. All the belief and positivity were with City as Haaland found his second while lurking at the back post, a typical poacher goal with the Norwegian being in the right place at the right time. Haaland completed his hat-trick in the 81st minute, with Gündogan’s pass through the middle to collect the ball with ease, using his strength to hold off the defenders before firing the ball home.
Erling Haaland (£11.8m) was of course the focal point of the match, a proper poacher as he is always lurking inside the box. Palace defended Haaland well in the first half, but his movement stepped up in the second half to attack the space. He really is a goalscoring machine and will give City a lot of goals this season.
Ilkay Gündogan (£7.6m) came off the bench to assist Haaland’s third goal and continues to play as a second striker. Within the 29 minutes he had on the pitch, he had one shot in the box and one big chance created.
Kevin de Bruyne (£12.2m) was on some of the set pieces and was creative during the game, however with Haaland now up front he will be less of a goal threat but chances for assists is there as he racked up two chances created.
Bernardo Silva (£6.8m) was lively and got the first goal to kick start City’s explosive second half. With his performances he should continue to get picked and starting to prove popular among FPL managers with 180,000 new transfers for Gameweek 5.
Crystal Palace found two goals in the first half with a total xG of 0.20 and from only one shot in the box. They were lucky to get both goals but will feel hard done by with some decisions not going there way. Haaland’s high boot on Andersen and an Ederson Moraes (£5.5m) throw intercepted by Odsonne Édouard (£5.4m).
Arsenal vs Fulham
Result: 2-1
Scorers: ARS – Ødegaard 64’ (A. Saka), Gabriel 85’ (A. Saliba).
FUL – Mitrović 56’.
MOTM: Martin Ødegaard (ARS)
Line-ups:
Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney (Nketiah 61’), Elneny, Xhaka, Saka, Ødegaard (Holding 90+5), Martinelli, Jesus (Tomiyasu 89’).
Fulham: Leno, Tete (Mbabu 79’), Adarabioyo, Ream (Stansfield 88’), Robinson, Reed, Palhinha (Chalobah 88’), Cordova-Reid, Pereira (Diop 79’), Kebano (Cairney 69’), Mitrović.
Arsenal continue their unbeaten run in the Premier League as they fight back to beat Fulham 2-1. All the goals came in the second half, the first came with a Gabriel Magalhães (£5.0m) defensive mistake allowing Mitrovic to use his strength to take the ball and give Fulham the lead. Arsenal sent waves of attack after conceding with the captain stepping up to score the equaliser following a deflective strike from Saka’s pass. Arsenal completed the comeback with centre back Gabriel redeeming himself from his earlier mistake to poke the ball home after a dangerous corner was swung in by Martinelli. Fulham held on for most of the game, with former Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno (£4.5m) making a handful of saves but Arsenal’s continuous pressure eventually took them back to the top of the Premier League table.
Martin Ødegaard (£6.6m) was again fantastic, a great mindset and lead the team by example. His composure on the ball and able to find space with brilliant passing to give the Gunners the freedom to attack with numbers and got on the scoresheet too.
Bukayo Saka (£7.9m) had a better performance, finally rewarding FPL owners with an assist but still falls short to teammate Martinelli in terms of ownership and points.
Gabriel Martinelli (6.4m) also got an assist in the game from a corner, with the Brazilian on some of the set pieces. He was everywhere in the Arsenal attack, with five shots in the box, created five chances with one big chance created that saw Gabriel find the back of the net.
Gabriel Jesus (£8.2m) was not on the scoresheet today but continues to be very dangerous up front for Arsenal.
As for Fulham, Alexsandar Mitrović (£6.7m) continued his excellent form up front with finding the back of the net to take his goalscoring tally to four. Even against harder opponents he is still dangerous and worth a slot in FPL teams.
Aston Villa vs West Ham United
Result: 0-1
Scorers: AVL – None.
WHU – Fornals 74’ (A. Rice).
MOTM: Pablo Fornals (WHU)
Line-ups:
Aston Villa: Martínez, Cash, Konsa, Chambers, Digne, Luiz (Ramsey 66’), Kamara, McGinn (Archer 90+1’), Coutinho (Buendía 66’), Watkins, Ings (Bailey 78’).
West Ham United: Fabianski, Kehrer, Zouma, Cresswell, Johnson (Coufal 23’), Soucek, Fornals, Rice, Emerson (Benrahma 45’), Bowen, Scamacca (Antonio 65’).
A Pablo Fornals (£5.4m) effort was enough for West Ham to earn their first victory of the season. David Moyes’ side were at the rock bottom of the Premier League table going into the game and didn’t look like it was going to change after a dismal first half until Fornals’ effort took a ricochet and over the top of Emiliano Martínez (£5.0m) in the 74th minute. Aston Villa did have the ball in the back of the net courtesy of Ezri Konsa’s (£4.4m) tap in from the corner however the ball swung out of play beforehand. It was an equal game with hardly any chances for both teams, with the deflected goal the best opportunity of the game. It was the first Premier League match this season to have a combined xG of less than one, indicating how poor both sides were.
Danny Ings (£6.9m), Ollie Watkins (£7.4m) and Philippe Coutinho (£6.8m) individually are good players but did not look like they knew what they were doing during the game. At times Ings would be overlapping the left-back and crossing the ball over on that left hand side when he should be in the box. Coutinho was staying back a lot when he should be getting further up the pitch, finding better spaces to give the strikers options. The danger was there but their prolific players were out on the wing. There is not much fluidity with Aston Villa’s game with the formation of two strikers and Coutinho not really working at the moment. Tough fixtures are coming up also for Villa, with Arsenal in Gameweek 5 and Manchester City in Gameweek 6.
West Ham were also very poor in the first half, with David Moyes acknowledging this and changed the formation for the second half. It allowed West Ham to get further up the pitch, giving them more confidence for players to then create more space. The goal was a little lucky to say the least but creating that luck came from players finding those pockets of space that ultimately the difference.
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Newcastle United
Result: 1-1
Scorers: WOL – Neves 38’ (A. Guedes).
NEW – Saint-Maximin 90’.
MOTM: Allan Saint-Maximin (NEW)
Line-ups:
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Sá, Semedo, Collins, Kilman, Jonny, Nunes, Moutinho (Dendoncker 90+8’), Guedes (Podence 83’), Neto (Hee-Chan 84’), Jiménez.
Newcastle United: Pope, Trippier, Schär, Botman, Burn (Targett 65’), Willock (Andersen 84’), Longstaff, Joelinton, Almirón (Murphy 83’), Saint-Maximin (Ritchie 90+9’), Wood (Fraser 65’).
An outstanding Saint-Maximin 90th minute volley earned Newcastle a point with the game ending in a bitter stalemate at Molineux, with the hosts seethed against the decision not to send off Fabian Schär (£4.7m) for a late challenge on Neto early in the second half. It seemed that Newcastle were heading for their first defeat of the season with a spectacular long-range effort from Midfielder Rúben Neves (£5.5m) in the first half putting the hosts on the brink of victory, only to be denied by a 90th minute equaliser with a poor clearance turning into a thing of beauty for Saint-Maximin to volley home. Newcastle were inches away from winning deep into injury time when substitute Elliot Andersen (£4.5m) hit the bar from a corner.
Wolves defending remarkably well with waves of Newcastle attacks since opening the scoreline with Nélson Semedo (£5.0m) having an excellent game at the back. The defence kept Saint-Maximin quiet for the majority of the game, as Wolves knew he would be the danger man. A counterattack from Wolves in the 81st minute saw Raúl Jiménez (£6.9m) score following a Neto pass; however, it was overturned by VAR with a foul on Ryan Fraser (£5.3m) in the build-up.
Pedro Neto (£5.3m) was influential during the game, picking up good positions and causing a lot of problems for Newcastle on the attacks. He can play on either wing which was evident from the game and will be an important player for Wolves this season. With Wolves playing Bournemouth in Gameweek 5, it might be wise to keep hold on him.
Allan Saint-Maximin (£6.5m) was again the highlight for Newcastle, in such good form and scoring such a spectacular volley today, he is really causing problems for oppositions. After Liverpool in Gameweek 5, Newcastle have some promising fixtures which might be a good opportunity to bring him in, however he was forced off with an apparent hamstring problem but hopefully nothing too serious.
Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Hotspur
Result: 0-2
Scorers: NFO – None.
TOT – Kane 5’ (A. Kulusevski) 81’ (A. Richarlison).
MOTM: Harry Kane (TOT)
Line-ups:
Nottingham Forest: Henderson, Worrall, Cook (Awoniyi 75’), McKenna, Williams, Gibbs-White, O’Brien (Freuler 75’), Toffolo, Yates (Kouyaté 75’), Lingard (Dennis 69’), Johnson (Surridge 90’).
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Sánchez, Dier, Davies, Emerson, Højbjerg, Bentancur (Spence 90+1’), Perišić (Sessegnon 74’), Kulusevski (Bissouma 83’), Son (Richarlison 74’), Kane.
A Harry Kane brace was enough for Tottenham to secure a hard-fought win against Nottingham Forest. Spurs found their first goal within the first five minutes with Dejan Kulusevski (£8.2m) picking out Kane to find the back of the net with a low shot. However, he was denied from the penalty spot later in the second half by goalkeeper Henderson but made up for it inside the final 10 minutes by heading in Richarlison’s magnificent cross. Kane now has 187 Premier League goals, putting him joint-third, with only Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer ahead of him.
Nottingham Forest had plenty of chances and put in a great performance with a lot of energy and the front three looking dangerous. They were energetic right from the get-go and had an impressive first half just not managing to have that final killer moment with Spurs defending well. They showed no fear against a top team and were on the front foot playing good football from the first minute of the game. They played a high line with many players in the box and if they continue to play like they did, one can get expect a decent season for them. Forest have brought in a lot of players this summer so there is that adjustment period but deserved something from the game.
Dean Henderson (£4.6m) was magnificent again, playing with a lot of confidence with yet another penalty save, adding to his penalty save in Gameweek 2. He has the most points out of any other goalkeeper in the FPL with 30 points and a goalkeeper to monitor for a future transfer.
The front three: Brennan Johnson (£5.9m), Morgan Gibbs-White (£5.5m) and Jesse Lingard (£5.8m) were lively throughout the game. But despite the good performance Forest have allowed opponents take 79 shots this season with a trip to Manchester City in Gameweek 5.
With a lot of defending from Spurs today it was their counter attacks that caused the most problems. As soon as they won the ball, they would attack in numbers, sprinting forward to have more bodies in the box. Any mistake Forest made they would capitalise. The quality from the players that came off the bench made a significant impact, especially Richarlison who got the assist for the 2nd goal.
Harry Kane (£11.4m) continued his hot form now scoring in three consecutive games. A danger around the box, scoring twice but denied the hat-trick following the penalty save, which would have seen Ivan Perišić (£5.6m) claim the assist. The England captain now sits joint-third among total points for all forwards, level with Gabriel Jesus with 26 points.
Son Heung-min (£11.8m) was quiet again today, with only 11 touches of the ball in the final third, he was replaced by Richarlison (£8.5m) and the Brazilian made an instant impact with the assist for Kane’s second goal. With the first mid-week matches coming up, it could be a chance to see Richarlison play from the start with Son getting some time on the bench.
